First Impressions
by PoeticallyIncorrect1
Summary: At look about how Miles might have ended up joining the N.I.H. team.


**FIRST IMPRESSIONS**

Dr. Stephen Connor sat in his office at N.I.H. headquarters. It had been three weeks ago that Dr. Blaine Lindstrom had announced her resignation from his specialized team. And now he was still going over the personnel files of possible candidates. It was going to hard to find someone to replace her, she was both a gifted diagnostician and had a real empathy for patients. But her husband was being transferred to L.A. and she couldn't stay behind on the East Coast.

"Getting anywhere, Stephen?" Dr. Kate Ewing asked as she stepped into the office, file in hand.

"Not really. I mean these are all good but they're just not Blaine," he replied.

"Well, this file just came across my desk and I thought you ought to take a look at it. But keep an open mind when you do.," Kate told him as she handed over the file.

"What?" Stephen asked. He read the name on the file 'Miles McCabe'. "I thought I was keeping an open mind." He flipped it open and looked at the picture pinned to the first page. "Is this some mistake? This looks like some kid."

"No mistake. He graduated near the top of his class in medical school and just finished up his second year residency at Baltimore General. Works in the ER there and it's one of the busiest trauma centers. He's got the skills and the dedication you want. Given half a chance he's going to go far," Kate replied.

"All right, I'll put him on the short list. But skills and dedication doesn't always add up to experience and maturity," Stephen warned.

"That's true," she admitted. "Let's go down to the hospital and you can see him in action for yourself.

The Baltimore General ER was filled with the usual over flow of patients waiting to be seen and the staff rushing here and there dealing with the traumas and emergencies that made it just an average day in an inner city ER. Despite that fact, it was fairly easy to spot Dr. McCabe. He was leaning lazily against the admit desk writing something in a chart, the rumpled scrubs and lab coat, a silent testimony to what had obviously been a long and busy shift.

Kate and Stephen threaded themselves through the crowd toward the admit desk. The picture hadn't done him justice, Stephen decided. In person he looked even younger. "Dr. McCabe?" Kate asked.

"That's me. Can I help you?" Miles asked, looked up from the chart.

"I'm Dr. Kate Ewing and this is Dr. Stephen Connor . We're from the N.I.H."

"You got my application then?" Miles asked.

"Dr. McCabe, is there someplace we can talk for a few minutes?" Kate asked.

"The staff lounge. He looked at the nurse. "Laurel, tell Dr. Mac I'm gonna take five, will you?"

"Okay," she replied.

Miles finished writing on the chart and replaced it before heading for the lounge. "I didn't think you'd get to it so soon. I mean, there must be a lot of applicants,"

"Let's just say that it arrived at an opportune time," Kate said, exchanging glances with Stephen.

Inside the lounge Miles poured himself a cup of coffee, waved the other two doctors to take seats on a battered couch while he took the only empty chair. "So, what is this all about?" he asked.

"Dr. McCabe, I head a specialized medical response team that gets called out to treat outbreaks, nationwide and occasionally globally, Stephen explained. "And usually at a moment's notice."

"Go ahead, I'm listening," the younger doctor replied, taking a sip of coffee

"There's an opening on my team at the moment and we're looking at you as a possible candidate. That is if you're interested."

"I'm interested."

"Good. What time can you come in for a formal interview?" Kate asked.

"Let me finish up here, grab about twelve hours sleep. Say about 10:00am tomorrow," Miles suggested.

"We'll see you there then," Kate said, handing him a card with the address and a phone number. "Call this if you can't make it or if you're running late."

"Okay," he replied sticking the card in his pocket.

A nurse stuck her head in the door and said, "Dr. McCabe, there's an MVA coming in, multiple vics. E.T.A. 5 minutes."

"Sorry but I gotta run. It was nice meeting you both," Miles said. He dumped his coffee in the sink and bustled out the door after the nurse.

"Kate and Stephen followed him. They stopped to watch as he grabbed a plastic trauma gown and goggles before heading out to wait for thee ambulance. "So, what do you think?" Kate asked

"It's hard to tell much on a first impression. But you're right. He is worth taking a second look. He has to be good if he's survived two years working in a busy trauma center. They tend to keep the best on staff," Steven admitted as they headed out to their car.

Promptly at 10:00 the next morning Miles showed up at the office at the N.I.H., having exchanged his scrubs and lab coat for a pair of neatly pressed slacks and a white shirt. In stead of just the two doctors he'd spoken to he was surprised top see three other people there also. "I thought this was just going to be an interview," he said.

"It is. But since you might to be working with more than just me, Dr. Ewing and I decided that you should meet the rest of the team," Stephan explained.

"That makes sense," Miles said.

"I want to meet Dr. Natalie Durant; you'll be working a lot with her. She's our pathologist and epidemiologist. Frank Powell, he's our toxicologist and medical inspection specialist and Eva Rossi, she's the public relations liaisons for the team. Everybody, this is Dr. Miles McCabe."

"Hello," Natalie said, holding out her hand.

Frank peered over at Stephen and asked, "Connor, where did you find this kid?"

"Kid?" Miles asked, starting to bristle but relaxed, having recognized the teasing tone to the other man's voice.

"Don't let his looks fool you, Frank. He's a very competent doctor," Stephen explained.

"So what do you want us to call you?" Eva asked.

"Miles will be just fine," he said looking up at her.

"So what do you think?" Stephen asked the rest of the team.

"First impressions don't always tell much," Natalie said. "But I'd say, let's see how he works out. She looked at the others who nodded in agreement

"Okay. Dr. McCabe, we'll let you go on a few cases with us, see how you work out before we decide for certain you're permanently a member," Stephen told the younger man.

"Sounds fair to me," Miles said.

"Come back in a couple of days for orientation. Meanwhile you need to let the hospital know of your new employment. Remember we can get called out at anytime," Stephen stated.

"Is that all?" Miles asked.

"It is. I'll have Eva show you the way out. This place can get confusing until can find your way around," Stephen answered.

"I was just getting ready to leave anyway," Eva added. "Come on this way and I'll show you a shortcut out of here."

Once they'd left, Stephen turned to Frank. "Kid?"

"Hey, Connor, I call 'em as I see 'em . You know that," Frank replied.

""I do. Let's just see how he works out before we draw any conclusions." Stephen said, picking up the younger doctor's file and studying it.


End file.
